The Chattanooga Mocs’ softball team swept the doubleheader when they needed it. The Mocs battled back in the late innings in both games of a Saturday doubleheader at the Catamount Softball Complex to down Western Carolina 8-7 in game one and 10-6 in game two.
Chattanooga improved to 24-25 overall and 8-9 in the Southern Conference. Western Carolina dropped to 18-30 overall and 6-11 in league play.
With the sweep and Furman losing two games to ETSU today, the Mocs secured the No.
3 seed in the SoCon Tournament next week.
The Mocs and the Catamounts conclude the three-game series tomorrow at noon.
In game one, after the Mocs went three up, three down in the top of the first, Western Carolina plated three runs in the bottom half on a Savannah Rice bases-clearing double off the wall in center.
In the second, the Catamounts extended their lead with a two-run home run off the bat of Bailey Huneycutt.
Adison Keylon put the Mocs on the board in the third with a solo blast to right, her third homer of the season. An inning later, the hosts got the run back and added another on their second two-run shot of the game.
In the fifth, Chattanooga plated four runs. To begin the scoring, Emily Coltharp reached on a fielding error to score Skylar Berkhiser from third. A few batters later, with two on and two out, Reagan Armour tripled to right, clearing the bases. She scored on a throwing error from the right fielder on the same play.
The Mocs’ offense stayed alive. With two on and two outs in the sixth, Keylon came up to the dish again. She blasted a three-run shot over the right center field wall, giving the Mocs their first lead of the afternoon. In the bottom half, the Catamounts got their first two runners on base, but Alyssa Lavdis avoided any damage, retiring the next three batters in order. Lavdis set down the Cats in order in the final frame, securing the 8-7 victory for Chattanooga.
Lavdis picked up her second win of the season, throwing 5.1 innings of relief and allowing two runs on six hits with four strikeouts and three walks. Brooke Parrott started the game for the Mocs and allowed three runs in the first inning. Hannah Wood was the first in relief; she allowed two runs in one inning of action.
Keylon paced the Mocs at the plate with a 3-for-3 day and drove in four runs. Coltharp and Presley Williamson registered the other multi-hit games for the Mocs, both recording two hits.
Western Carolina’s Huneycutt went 3-for-3 at the plate with two RBI. The top four hitters in the Catamount lineup went 8-for-14 with four RBI. The Catamounts’ Savannah Rice threw 5.2 innings and allowed eight runs, just one earned, on nine hits with three strikeouts.
Myra Twitty began the scoring in game two. She put a run on the board for the Catamounts with a single to third, scoring an unearned run for the hosts in the opening frame.
The Mocs didn’t wait as long to take the lead in game two. The Blue and Gold took the lead in the third inning on another three-run home run, this time off the bat of Acelynn Sellers.
In the bottom half of the third, the hosts regained the lead after an RBI single and an Addie Pate two-run home run. Western Carolina doubled its lead in the fourth with a two-out single up the middle to plate the team’s fifth run of the contest.
Chattanooga kept the back-and-forth contest going. Reagan Armour took the first pitch of the fifth inning and sent it over the wall in center for the Mocs’ second homer of the game. A few batters later, Liz Rodebaugh reached on an error which scored two runs, giving the Mocs a 6-5 lead. Rodebaugh scored two batters later as Keylon drove her in with a sac fly to left to double UTC’s lead.
The Mocs’ bats stayed hot in the sixth. With the bases loaded and one out, Phillips singled to right to drive in a run and Acelynn Sellers added to the total, scoring on an error by the Catamounts. UTC plated its last run with a Kailey Snell RBI double in the seventh. WCU added one more run to the total with a solo shot with two outs in the seventh.
Coltharp, Snell, Armour and Sellers all registered two hits. The four at the top of the lineup combined to go 8-for-15 with five RBI and seven runs scored.
Izzy Alley started the contest. She allowed four runs, three earned on four hits in three innings of work with two K’s and a walk.